Mijbil, the Otter - Textual Comprehension

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Mijbil, the Otter

Reading Comprehension 1

EARLY in the New Year of 1956 I travelled to Southern Iraq. By then it had crossed my mind that I should like to keep an otter instead of a dog, and that Camusfearna, ringed by water a stone’s throw from its door, would be an eminently suitable spot for this experiment. 

When I casually mentioned this to a friend, he as casually replied that I had better get one in the Tigris marshes, for there they were as common as mosquitoes, and were often tamed by the Arabs. We were going to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer our mail from Europe. At the Consulate-General we found that my friend’s mail had arrived but that mine had not. 

I cabled to England, and when, three days later, nothing had happened, I tried to telephone. The call had to be booked twenty-four hours in advance. On the first day the line was out of order; on the second the exchange was closed for a religious holiday. On the third day there was another breakdown. My friend left, and I arranged to meet him in a week’s time. Five days later, my mail arrived. 

1. Where did the narrator travel early in the New Year of 1956?

2. Why did the narrator think Camusfearna was a suitable place to keep an otter?

3. Where did the narrator’s friend suggest he could get an otter?
   a) In England
   b) In the Tigris marshes
   c) In Camusfearna

4. Why did the narrator go to the Consulate-General in Basra?
   a) To collect and answer mail
   b) To meet his friend
   c) To buy supplies

5. What caused the delay in the narrator’s phone call to England?
   a) The weather was bad
   b) The exchange was closed and lines were out of order
   c) The narrator forgot to book the call

✅️Answers

1. The narrator travelled to Southern Iraq.

2. He thought Camusfearna was suitable because it was surrounded by water.

3. b) In the Tigris marshes

4. a) To collect and answer mail

5. b) The exchange was closed and lines were out of order

Reading Comprehension 2

I carried it to my bedroom to read, and there, squatting on the floor, were two Arabs; beside them lay a sack that squirmed from time to time. They handed me a note from my friend: “Here is your otter...”

With the opening of that sack began a phase of my life that has not yet ended, and may, for all I know, not end before I do. It is, in effect, a thraldom to otters, an otter fixation, that I have since found to be shared by most other people, who have ever owned one. 

The creature that emerged from this sack on to the spacious tiled floor of the Consulate bedroom resembled most of all a very small, medievaly conceived, dragon. From the head to the tip of the tail he was coated with symmetrical pointed scales of mud armour, between whose tips was visible a soft velvet fur like that of a chocolate-brown mole. He shook himself, and I half expected a cloud of dust, but in fact it was not for another month that I managed to remove the last of the mud and see the otter, as it were, in his true colours. 

1. Who were squatting on the floor when the narrator entered his bedroom?

2. What was inside the sack that the Arabs brought?

3. What did the note from the narrator’s friend say?
   a) “Here is your dog...”
   b) “Here is your otter...”
   c) “Here is your letter...”

4. What did the narrator compare the otter to when it first came out of the sack?
   a) A dragon
   b) A cat
   c) A mole

5. How long did it take the narrator to remove all the mud and see the otter’s true colours?
   a) A week
   b) A month
   c) A day

✅️Answers

1. Two Arabs were squatting on the floor.

2. There was an otter inside the sack.

3. b) “Here is your otter...”

4. a) A dragon

5. b) A month

Reading Comprehension 3

Mijbil, as I called the otter, was, in fact, of a race previously unknown to science, and was at length christened by zoologists Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli, or Maxwell’s otter. For the first twentyfour hours Mijbil was neither hostile nor friendly; he was simply aloof and indifferent, choosing to sleep on the floor as far from my bed as possible. The second night Mijbil came on to my bed in the small hours and remained asleep in the crook of my knees until the servant brought tea in the morning, and during the day he began to lose his apathy and take a keen, much too keen, interest in his surroundings. I made a body-belt for him and took him on a lead to the bathroom, where for half an hour he went wild with joy in the water, plunging and rolling in it, shooting up and down the length of the bathtub underwater, and making enough slosh and splash for a hippo. This, I was to learn, is a characteristic of otters; every drop of water must be, so to speak, extended and spread about the place; a bowl must at once be overturned, or, if it will not be overturned, be sat in and sploshed in until it overflows. Water must be kept on the move and made to do things; when static it is wasted and provoking.

1. What was special about the otter that the narrator named Mijbil?

2. How did Mijbil behave during his first twenty-four hours with the narrator?

3. What did zoologists name the new race of otter?
   a) Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli
   b) Lutrogale perspicillata camusfearna
   c) Lutrogale perspicillata iraqi

4. How did Mijbil react when he was taken to the bathroom?
   a) He was frightened of the water
   b) He went wild with joy and played in it
   c) He refused to enter the water

5. What does the narrator say is a common habit of otters?
   a) They love to sleep all day
   b) They like to keep water moving and splashing
   c) They prefer to stay dry and clean

✅️Answers

1. Mijbil belonged to a race of otters previously unknown to science.

2. He was aloof and indifferent, neither friendly nor hostile.

3. a) Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli

4. b) He went wild with joy and played in it

5. b) They like to keep water moving and splashing

Reading Comprehension 4

Two days later, Mijbil escaped from my bedroom as I entered it, and I turned to see his tail disappearing round the bend of the corridor that led to the bathroom. By the time I got there he was up on the end of the bathtub and fumbling at the chromium taps with his paws. I watched, amazed; in less than a minute he had turned the tap far enough to produce a trickle of water, and after a moment or two achieved the full flow. (He had been lucky to turn the tap the right way; on later occasions he would sometimes screw it up still tighter, chittering with irritation and disappointment at the tap’s failure to cooperate.) 

Very soon Mij would follow me without a lead and come to me when I called his name. He spent most of his time in play. He spent hours shuffling a rubber ball round the room like a four-footed soccer player using all four feet to dribble the ball, and he could also throw it, with a powerful flick of the neck, to a surprising height and distance. But the real play of an otter is when he lies on his back and juggles with small objects between his paws. Marbles were Mij’s favourite toys for this pastime: he would lie on his back rolling two or more of them up and down his wide, flat belly without ever dropping one to the floor.

1. Where did Mijbil run to when he escaped from the narrator’s bedroom?

2. What did Mijbil manage to do with the bathroom tap?

3. How did Mijbil feel when the tap did not work as he wanted?
   a) He ignored it
   b) He became irritated and disappointed
   c) He started crying loudly

4. What toy did Mijbil enjoy playing with the most?
   a) A rubber ball
   b) Marbles
   c) A stick

5. How did Mijbil play with his favourite toys?
   a) He juggled them on his back using his paws
   b) He hid them under the bed
   c) He threw them into the water

✅️Answers

1. Mijbil ran to the bathroom.

2. He managed to turn on the tap and make the water flow.

3. b) He became irritated and disappointed

4. b) Marbles

5. a) He juggled them on his back using his paws

Reading Comprehension 5

The days passed peacefully at Basra, but I dreaded the prospect of transporting Mij to England, and to Camusfearna. The British airline to London would not fly animals, so I booked a flight to Paris on another airline, and from there to London. The airline insisted that Mij should be packed into a box not more than eighteen inches square, to be carried on the floor at my feet. I had a box made, and an hour before we started, I put Mij into the box so that he would become accustomed to it, and left for a hurried meal.

1. Where was the narrator staying peacefully before his journey?

2. Why was the narrator worried about travelling with Mijbil?

3. Why did the narrator book a flight to Paris instead of directly to London?
   a) The British airline would not fly animals
   b) The Paris route was cheaper
   c) He wanted to visit Paris first

4. What rule did the airline make about carrying Mijbil?
   a) He had to travel in the luggage compartment
   b) He had to be packed in a box not more than eighteen inches square
   c) He had to be kept in a cage near the pilot

5. Why did the narrator put Mijbil in the box an hour before leaving?
   a) To punish him
   b) To make him get used to it
   c) To keep him quiet

✅️Answers

1. The narrator was staying in Basra.

2. He was worried about how to transport Mijbil to England safely.

3. a) The British airline would not fly animals

4. b) He had to be packed in a box not more than eighteen inches square

5. b) To make him get used to it

Reading Comprehension 6

When I returned, there was an appalling spectacle. There was complete silence from the box, but from its airholes and chinks around the lid, blood had trickled and dried. I whipped off the lock and tore open the lid, and Mij, exhausted and blood spattered, whimpered and caught at my leg. He had torn the lining of the box to shreds; when I removed the last of it so that there were no cutting edges left, it was just ten minutes until the time of the flight, and the airport was five miles distant. I put the miserable Mij back into the box, holding down the lid with my hand.

I sat in the back of the car with the box beside me as the driver tore through the streets of Basra like a ricochetting bullet. The aircraft was waiting to take off; I was rushed through to it by infuriated officials. Luckily, the seat booked for me was at the extreme front. I covered the floor around my feet with newspapers, rang for the air hostess, and gave her a parcel of fish (for Mij) to keep in a cool place. I took her into my confidence about the events of the last half hour. I have retained the most profound admiration for that air hostess; she was the very queen of her kind. She suggested that I might prefer to have my pet on my knee, and I could have kissed her hand in the depth of my gratitude. But, not knowing otters, I was quite unprepared for what followed.

1. What shocking sight did the narrator see when he returned to the box?

2. Why was Mijbil covered in blood and exhausted?

3. How far was the airport from where the narrator was staying?
   a) Two miles
   b) Five miles
   c) Ten miles

4. What did the narrator give the air hostess to keep cool?
   a) A bottle of water
   b) A parcel of fish
   c) A box of chocolates

5. How did the narrator feel about the air hostess?
   a) He was annoyed with her
   b) He admired her deeply for her kindness
   c) He thought she didn’t care about Mij

✅️Answers

1. He saw blood trickling and dried around the airholes of the box.

2. Mijbil had hurt himself by tearing the lining of the box to shreds.

3. b) Five miles

4. b) A parcel of fish

5. b) He admired her deeply for her kindness

Reading Comprehension 7

Mij was out of the box in a flash. He disappeared at high speed down the aircraft. There were squawks and shrieks, and a woman stood up on her seat screaming out, “A rat! A rat!” I caught sight of Mij’s tail disappearing beneath the legs of a portly whiteturbaned Indian. Diving for it, I missed, but found my face covered in curry. “Perhaps,” said the air hostess with the most charming smile, “it would be better if you resumed your seat, and I will find the animal and bring it to you.”

I returned to my seat. I was craning my neck trying to follow the hunt when suddenly I heard from my feet a distressed chitter of recognition and welcome, and Mij bounded on to my knee and began to nuzzle my face and my neck. 

1. What happened as soon as Mij was let out of the box?

2. How did one of the passengers react when she saw Mij running on the aircraft?

3. Who did Mij run under while escaping through the plane?
   a) A young boy
   b) A white-turbaned Indian man
   c) The air hostess

4. What covered the narrator’s face when he dived to catch Mij?
   a) Curry
   b) Water
   c) Coffee

5. How did Mij show that he recognized the narrator after being caught?
   a) He barked loudly
   b) He bounded onto his knee and nuzzled his face
   c) He ran back into the box

✅️Answers

1. Mij ran quickly down the aircraft.

2. A woman screamed, thinking he was a rat.

3. b) A white-turbaned Indian man

4. a) Curry

5. b) He bounded onto his knee and nuzzled his face

Reading Comprehension 8

Mij and I remained in London for nearly a month. He would play for hours with a selection of toys, ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit, and a terrapin shell that I had brought back from his native marshes. With the ping-pong ball he invented a game of his own which could keep him engrossed for up to half an hour at a time. A suitcase that I had taken to Iraq had become damaged on the journey home, so that the lid, when closed, remained at a slope from one end to the other. Mij discovered that if he placed the ball on the high end it would run down the length of the suitcase. He would dash around to the other end to ambush its arrival, hide from it, crouching, to spring up and take it by surprise, grab it and trot off with it to the high end once more.

1. How long did Mij and the narrator stay in London?

2. What toys did Mij like to play with?

3. What did Mij use to invent his own game?
   a) A marble
   b) A ping-pong ball
   c) A rubber fruit

4. What was special about the narrator’s damaged suitcase?
   a) Its lid was sloping from one end to the other
   b) It had a hole in the side
   c) It could not be opened

5. What did Mij do with the ball during his game?
   a) He rolled it and chased it down the suitcase
   b) He threw it out of the window
   c) He hid it under the bed

✅️Answers

1. They stayed in London for nearly a month.

2. Mij liked to play with ping-pong balls, marbles, rubber fruit, and a terrapin shell.

3. b) A ping-pong ball

4. a) Its lid was sloping from one end to the other

5. a) He rolled it and chased it down the suitcase

Reading Comprehension 9

Outside the house I exercised him on a lead, precisely as if he had been a dog. Mij quickly developed certain compulsive habits on these walks in the London streets, like the rituals of children who on their way to and from school must place their feet squarely on the centre of each paving block; must touch every seventh upright of the iron railings, or pass to the outside of every second lamp post. Opposite to my flat was a single-storied primary school, along whose frontage ran a low wall some two feet high. On his way home, but never on his way out, Mij would tug me to this wall, jump on to it, and gallop the full length of its thirty yards, to the hopeless distraction both of pupils and of staff within.

1. How did the narrator exercise Mij outside the house?

2. What strange habits did Mij develop during his walks?

3. What did Mij do when he saw the low wall near the primary school?
   a) He ran away from it
   b) He jumped on it and ran along its length
   c) He sat quietly beside it

4. How long was the wall that Mij liked to run on?
   a) Twenty yards
   b) Thirty yards
   c) Forty yards

5. How did Mij’s wall-running affect the pupils and staff at the school?
   a) It distracted them completely
   b) They ignored him
   c) They were scared of him

✅️Answers

1. The narrator exercised Mij on a lead like a dog.

2. He developed habits like touching certain objects or walking in patterns, similar to children’s rituals.

3. b) He jumped on it and ran along its length

4. b) Thirty yards

5. a) It distracted them completely

Reading Comprehension 10

It is not, I suppose, in any way strange that the average Londoner should not recognise an otter, but the variety of guesses as to what kind of animal this might be came as a surprise to me. Otters belong to a comparatively small group of animals called Mustellines, shared by the badger, mongoose, weasel, stoat, mink and others. I faced a continuous barrage of conjectural questions that sprayed all the Mustellines but the otter; more random guesses hit on ‘a baby seal’ and ‘a squirrel.’ ‘Is that a walrus, mister?’ reduced me to giggles, and outside a dog show I heard ‘a hippo’. A beaver, a bear cub, a leopard — one, apparently, that had changed its spots — and a ‘brontosaur’; Mij was anything but an otter.

But the question for which I awarded the highest score came from a labourer digging a hole in the street. I was still far from him when he laid down his tool, put his hands on his hips, and began to stare. As I drew nearer I saw his expression of surprise and affront, as though he would have me know that he was not one upon whom to play jokes. I came abreast of him; he spat, glared, and then growled out, “Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?”

1. Why was the narrator not surprised that Londoners did not recognize Mij?

2. Which group of animals does the otter belong to?

3. What were some of the wrong guesses people made about Mij’s identity?
   a) A baby seal, a squirrel, a hippo, and a beaver
   b) A lion, a tiger, a dog, and a cat
   c) A goat, a sheep, a rabbit, and a deer

4. Which question made the narrator laugh the most?
   a) “Is that a walrus, mister?”
   b) “Is that a cat, mister?”
   c) “Is that a dog, mister?”

5. What did the labourer say when the narrator passed by with Mij?
   a) “Can I pet your otter?”
   b) “Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?”
   c) “That’s a strange-looking dog!”

✅️Answers

1. Because he knew that otters were uncommon and most people had never seen one.

2. Otters belong to the Mustelline group of animals.

3. a) A baby seal, a squirrel, a hippo, and a beaver

4. a) “Is that a walrus, mister?”

5. b) “Here, Mister — what is that supposed to be?”